Well Setback Measure Fails in Colorado

A controversial proposal on the ballot in Colorado that would have dramatically limited new oil and gas development in the state failed at the polls Tuesday. According to returns from the Colorado Secretary of State’s office , Proposition 112 failed to gain majority support from voters. The measure, which would have required any new oil and natural gas development in the state to be at least 2,500 feet away from occupied structures, water sources and areas deemed “vulnerable,” lost by an approximately 57- to 43-percent margin. A July 2018 Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission analysis of the proposal – known at the time as “initiative #97” while supporters were still collecting signatures to get it on the November ballot – concluded that: The measure would put approximately 54 percent of Colorado’s total land surface off-limits to new oil and gas development. Eighty-five percent of the state’s non-federal land […]